Friday, October 9, 2009

Scarlett Johansson and Pete Yorn team up to sing songs of heartache on their collaborative release, "Break Up." They share anecdotes from their experience and gift us with an exclusive performance -- including a special cover song -- on Morning Becomes Eclectic yesterday.

iTunes is now offering a free Back to School 2009 Sampler on the iTunes Facebook page. This 15 song sampler features some great songs as you head back to class, including artists like, K'Naan, Gary Go, Billy Boy on Poison, and Anjulie. The codes are available while supplies last so be sure to redeem the code before it expires.

Landon Pigg has had an incredible week. Not only did he release his new album, The Boy Who Never, last Tuesday, but to follow it up on Friday, he made his feature film debut in the Drew Barrymore-directed, WHIP IT. To celebrate the man of many talents, RAGGED Magazine has just released a special behind-the-photoshoot featurette with exclusive access to Landon in between jumps and poses for the camera. The resulting video is an endearing look at an artist who confesses an appreciaton for Nashville roots, Harry Nilsson, and...striped socks.

Then head to http://www.raggedmag.com/ to get your FREE PDF download of the entire new issue of RAGGED, of course featuring Landon Pigg, alongside A Fine Frenzy, The Sounds, Busdriver, Those Darlins and cover artist, Taking Back Sunday.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Directed by NYLON Magazine, the video was shot at Babeland's SoHo store in New York City. And yes, those are cameos from Justin Kirk (Weeds), Daniel Vosovic (Project Runway), and Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield)!

In other news, Anya has contributed a song to The Twilight Saga: New Moon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

The music video for Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me On the Equinox," from The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack, will premiere TONIGHT at 8pm (all time zones) on MTV and will be posted on MTV.com following the on-air premiere. The video was shot with director Walter Robot, who also directed the band's "Grapevine Fires" music video.

Visit MTV.com and NewMoonTheSoundtrack.com for sneak peeks of the music video. And for more information on Death Cab for Cutie, visit www.deathcabforcutie.com. The Twilight Saga: New Moon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is in stores and online October 20th on Chop Shop/Atlantic.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

You gotta listen to the new single from Vampire Weekend. It's called "Horchata" and it was just released. Just a few weeks ago they announced the release date and gave us some info on their upcoming release. Now we have a new single to satisfy our cravings for new stuff from VW.

Following 2008’s Fighting Trees—The Swimmers’ first release on MAD Dragon which garnered rave reviews from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Magnet, The Tripwire and Time Out Chicago, making their Artist to Watch and Top Ten Year End Polls—Steve and Krista Yutzy-Burkey, Scott French and Rick Sieber decided to make a clean break, build a home studio from the ground up and record an album entirely themselves. The result is intensely personal songwriting couched in distorted synthesizer hooks, crushed electric guitars and swelling reverb trails. “It was a very focused and isolated time. Scott and I traded back and forth, refining and affecting the mixes…I think we all journeyed pretty deep inside ourselves during the project,” said lead singer/songwriter Steve Yutzy-Burkey.

From “Hundred Hearts”—Scott’s ode to the trials of the human heart with an insatiably catchy gang chorus—to “Drug Party”—a dream sequence of social disconnection set to overblown distorted guitar and brash snare hits—to “What This World Is Coming To”—a diffuse atmosphere alternating with quirky, pounding choruses—to the apocalyptic electro-pop of Krista’s lead vocal on “Give Me the Sun,” to “Nervous Wreck’s” triumphant chorus “sing without and hold together,” the songs are isolated and comforting, difficult and alluring, fractured and fragile…People Are Soft.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Alaskans whose latest CD caught our eye with awe-inspiring album art and then kept our attention with rousing sing-a-longs. They are known to be a phenomenal live band and we hear it as they perform on Morning Becomes Eclectic.

After frontman James Allen coined the band's name - a modern mash-up evoking the working class grit of his native Glasgow and the glittering all night party scene of Las Vegas - Glasvegas set the stage for their majestic, wall-of-sound inspired tunes. With hopes of making their native country proud by unapologetically singing with their Scottish accents, the quartet's self-titled debut puts a modern spin on a nostalgic sound of love and reverb.

The band's critically acclaimed self-titled debut, produced by James Allan and Rich Costey (Interpol, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Mew) is available now courtesy of Columbia Records. Check out the heartbreaking video for their latest single, "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry":www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q3uSqEKpwM&feature=fvsr